


Prompt #033 Young

by kurgaya



Series: Divine Footsteps [23]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship, Translation Available, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-22
Updated: 2013-04-22
Packaged: 2017-12-09 05:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/770646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurgaya/pseuds/kurgaya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toshiro gets mistaken for a child in Karakura. But really, that's not very surprising.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prompt #033 Young

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Зарисовка #033 Юный](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7155872) by [a_m](https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_m/pseuds/a_m)



> Light swearing. Toshiro's a little OOC. About a quarter-crack.
> 
> Lets all pretend for a moment that The Thousand Year Blood Arc didn't happen, but Ichigo's still missing his shinigami powers :)

**Miss Mad**

He really should ask Urahara for a different gigai. The skeptical looks he had received during his time at Karakura High during the Winter War had been bad enough, but the deeply concerned expression on the woman's face across the street was completely ridiculous. He only needed to glance over in her direction for the slightest of seconds to realise what she was deducing about the scene; the scene being, that is, a hundred year old shinigami stuck in the (fake) body of what was probably an eight year old in the current society, scanning the area to try and pinpoint the location of the Hollow he had felt just a few minutes before. To her, however, Toshiro knew he came across as a tiny child out on his own, probably looking for his parents, having wandered off and gotten lost in the middle of town.  
  
She was one of the head staff at the local children's day care, and her bright clothing, soft features, and flowery handbag made her seem approachable and kind. To him, however, her magenta polka-dot dress was ghastly, her ruby lipstick was unnecessary, and the giant felt rose stitched onto her bag was horribly excessive, especially since she looked closer to forty than she did twenty. Living in a world that was still absorbed in the traditional Feudal Era, he couldn't really judge, but even he had better taste than her. He had plenty of time to cringe at her fashion sense from where he leaned against a wall, for traffic lights seemed to be a foreign object to her as she waited patiently for a driver to die of shock at her complexion so that she could cross the street.  
  
It was as she hurried across the road, rummaging through her bag disparately for something, that Toshiro realised she was heading straight for him. He cursed under his breath and glanced around for an easy escape route, the Hollow he'd been tracking forgotten in the presence of a more highly skilled hunter. Women on a mission were best to be avoided, Toshiro had found. His experience with having Matsumoto as a fukutaicho had taught him this well.  
  
"Child, child, child," cooed the lady, brushing a thread of her ginger hair away from her wide, doe-like eyes.  
  
 _Bollocks_ , thought Toshiro.  
  
"Where are your parents dear?" she asked, reaching to rest a hand comfortingly on his shoulder. He shielded away and cleared his throat, deciding that out of the two possible options available to him, pretending to actually be a child was not going to get him out of his situation without suffering a decade's worth of humiliation.  
  
"Ma'am, I assure you I'm fine," he said curtly, offering her a polite bow to show that he had manners beyond that of a rampant eight year old. "There is no need to worry yourself."  
  
"No no no no _no_ ," she replied, shaking her head sadly, pressing her lips together in sympathy. "It's okay dear, it's no trouble at all. Are you looking for your parents? Oh of course you are, they must be so scared right now."  
  
He clicked his jaw shut to bite back a sigh. He couldn't exactly say that 'if by 'parents' you mean 'fukutaicho', then no, she's not going to be scared, she's actually going to have a field day over this once she forces it out of me,' nor could be explain that 'I'm not looking for my fukutaicho anyway, but actually searching for an eight foot monster that would happily eat your soul - '  
  
He glanced at her dress again. _Okay_ , he corrected, _maybe it wouldn't_.  
  
"Come now child," she was saying once he focused on her words instead of her pink disaster. "You can stick with Miss Madelene for now - the children call me Miss Mad, _oh_ I don't know why but it's rather endearing - and we'll go and find your parents - " Again she reached for him, this time successfully gripping his shoulder and urging him down the sidewalk. Toshiro tried to discretely dig his heels into the brick, but the woman had just as much strength as her plump, round figure suggested. " - Oh I hope we don't have to call the police, that'll be so embarrassing for you won't it dear? I'm sure your parents will be relieved though - "  
  
Toshiro cursed and cursed and cursed inside of his head. He was one of the strongest taicho in history; a genius; a master at tactics, and he couldn't think of a way to get himself out of this mess. He shouldn't have yielded to Urahara's insistence that he should patrol the town in a gigai - he should have listened to his gut and remained as a soul, that way his senses and abilities wouldn't be restricted so much, and random humans with too big a heart and a limited view that all people under five foot were children wouldn't be a problem. If it was anybody else that Toshiro knew, they would just brush off the woman and carry on their way without a worry, but he knew even as part of his mind screamed just to make a run for it, that he'd only upset the lady and perhaps get himself into even more trouble.  
  
He did _not_ want to have to explain a missing person's report to Soul Society.  
  
"Ma'am, please," he tried. _"_ I don't need to find my parents - I don't actually _have_ any parents - "  
  
"Oh dear!" she cried, her rapid, sorrowful tirade only increasing in volume at his words. "How terrible - oh you poor, poor thing. Are you staying at the orphanage then? Oh I certainly hope not, how dreadful that must - "

Well that hadn't been a very good thing to say. She was only holding him tighter now, her body tense with fear for him, and if the circumstances had been different Toshiro would have actually felt a little flattered at the concern. But all he felt at that moment was mortified embarrassment because this was a situation that he should have easily been able to avoid.  
  
"I really don't need any help," he attempted again, raising his voice above her endless rambling. "Could you please let go of - "  
  
"Miss, miss, excuse me!"  
  
The woman startled and spun them both around, her handbag smacking Toshiro in the chest, and sent a dazed smile at the student running up the street towards them. Ichigo Kurosaki was still human after the end of the Winter War, so the taicho hadn't been able to feel an ounce of spiritual energy from the young man to signify his approach. That unsettling fact aside, Toshiro had never felt so relieved to hear the ex-substitute's voice before, and his expression must have given this away because Ichigo nodded briefly at him before smiling at the lady. The eighteen year old didn't look smug or amused by the events however, instead, he kept his voice and features calm as he pulled a small wallet-like object from his bag and presented it to the woman holding Toshiro hostage.  
  
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," said Ichigo smoothly, lying through his teeth. "And I'd be happy to provide some assistance so that no more of your time will be lost."  
  
Miss Mad blinked down at the wallet in Ichigo's hand, before smiling brightly and nodding enthusiastically, looking far more delighted than Toshiro would expect considering she believed him to be an unfortunate child who'd run away from an orphanage. They conversed for just a minute longer while Toshiro tried to examine what Ichigo was holding, his interest peaked at whatever method of persuasion it was, and then the woman was leaving, and the hand resting on his shoulder was slight and large, yet clearly suggestive of a fierce protectiveness.  
  
Toshiro brushed it off almost immediately. Ichigo didn't appear to mind, grinning widely and looking pleased with himself.  
  
"Hey Toshiro," he greeted warmly. "Haven't seen you in a while."  
  
He mentioned nothing about the lady or the red tinge to the taicho's cheeks, and for that Toshiro was grateful.  
  
"Kurosaki," he returned shortly. "What is that?" he then asked, inclining his head towards the wallet.  
  
Ichigo waved it about. "Eh, right to the point as always," he noted, but he laughed. "I'm assuming asking if you've ever seen _Doctor Who_ is a silly question?"  
  
"Yes," Toshiro replied bluntly, having never heard of such a thing.  
  
"Thought so," continued the human, unfazed. "Well, this is kinda based off of this thing called psychic paper - don't tell the Whovians though. Despite not being able to see or talk to you guys anymore, you still seem to get me into a lot of trouble now and then, so Urahara did something fancy with a illusion kido and I can make this bit of paper say whatever I want, like a fake ID that works for anything. It's really cool."  
  
Toshiro had no idea who or what the 'Whovians' were, but he understood that 'you' was referring to the shinigami as a whole, and not just him. "You don't have any spiritual energy though," he said, frowning and hoping that saying that in such a matter-of-fact tone wasn't going to offend the ex-shinigami.  
  
Again, Ichigo didn't look at all bothered. "Nah, I use my dad's. I kinda load this up with his spiritual energy from time to time - it's really complicated, but Urahara said it was like a credit card?" He sounded doubtful. "You know what that is don't you?"  
  
He knew what that was, and said so. Ichigo smiled and pocketed the 'psychic paper,' apparently finished with his explanation. They stood in a relatively comfortable silence for a moment, both unsure as to what to they should say after only catching glimpses of each other over the last three years, and, as per usual, Ichigo broke it first.  
  
"You wanna come round for dinner tonight? I could show you The Doctor's psychic paper. And the T.A.R.D.I.S! You'll _love_ the T.A.R.D.I.S."  
  
His tone was light, hopeful.  
  
"I will, will I?" Toshiro replied, again having no idea what any of the words meant, but assuming that he'd find out soon enough. He spared a thought at how easily he had taken Ichigo up on his offer, and tried not to think of the implications of that. "I shall see you tonight then, I need to get back to patrol."  
  
"Sure, sure," said Ichigo, and they parted ways as simply as that.  
  
Or so Toshiro had thought, until he'd just been about to turn the corner and heard a call from behind him, "Try not to get kidnapped again!"  
  
He tutted and rolled his eyes, not offering a reply. He was still going to dump his gigai off at Urahara's though, just in case.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The number of grammatical mistakes I found were ridiculous. Excuse any that I've missed.


End file.
